This invention relates to a device and system for teaching a person the proper way to swing a baseball bat or the like.
Teaching a person the proper technique for swinging a bat can be a difficult task. It can require years of practice and training with an experienced batting coach to perfect the batter's swing. Proper swing technique encompasses proper hand placement and body movement, optimal bat acceleration, and ample power to hit the ball and is of the utmost importance in playing such sports as baseball or softball.
The present invention relates to a swing trainer for teaching a person the proper technique for swinging a bat in order to achieve maximum bat speed and power at impact with a ball. In particular, the swing trainer teaches the user proper body form for swinging a bat and how to use his or her body most effectively when executing a swing.
Bat trainers and warm-up devices of various kinds have been conventionally proposed and used. One category of devices helps batters learn to “break” or “bend” their wrists prior to contacting the ball. The theory is that breaking a batter's wrist ahead of the arms prior to contacting the ball will cause the ball to travel a greater distance when contact with the bat is made. Early bat trainers utilized weighted rings that fit around the hitting end of a standard bat. As the batter swings the bat, the weighted end helps the batter to break his or her wrist, theoretically improving ball distance. U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,816 builds on this by altering the location and size of the weights. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,111 discloses a practice bat that includes a weighted bat head connected to a flexing mid-section. At the beginning of the swing, momentum and the flexing section cause the weighted bat head to lag behind the grip handle. At the end of the swing, momentum and the flexing section cause the weighted end to move ahead of the grip handle. This teaches the batter the proper time to “bend” or “break” the hands and wrists during the swing.
Other devices, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,246,894, describe a practice bat for visibly recognizing where and when the ball contacts the bat. While the previously described trainers may help batters determine when to move their hands and/or wrists during a swing or to recognize the optimal place a bat should contact the ball, none of the inventions described teaches the batter proper swing technique.
Devices to help improve a batter's swing are available, but these devices typically help the batter to build shoulder and arm muscles used in swinging a bat and improve muscle coordination. Many of these trainers include weights mounted to the shaft of the bat. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,209 a batting trainer is disclosed that comprises a handle and a weighted shaft portion attached to a rod extending from the handle. The weighted shaft portion slides away from the grip handle as the batter accelerates the bat during the swing. This device trains the batter to better time acceleration of the bat during the swing by demonstrating the point at which the acceleration of the bat causes the weighted shaft to slide up the rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,121 discloses a baseball bat swing trainer comprising a baseball bat with a weight that can be mounted at multiple locations on the bat shaft. Changing the position of the weight with respect to the grip handle changes the center of gravity of the bat and alters the effort required by the batter to swing the bat.
Another category of bat swing trainers is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,996, which shows a baseball bat with separate barrel and grip handle portions connected by a spring. The spring is positioned so that the batter's hands will grip the bat on opposite sides of the spring. This arrangement teaches the batter to appreciate and achieve a proper acceleration when the bat impacts the ball.
Swing trainers are also available for use in other sports. For example, the Kallassy Swing Magic™, utilizes a conventional golf club with a pre-formed hand grip, receiving receptacle and moveable hood to teach a person how to properly swing a golf club. In use, the user places one hand on the hand grip and the other hand on the moveable hood, while assuming a conventional golf stance. This posture, the hands close together and the club perpendicular to the mid-line of the body, constitutes the resting position. At the beginning of the swing, the user swings the club backwards while moving the hood along the club shaft toward the club head extending the arm. When the user's arm is fully extended, the user begins to swing the club forward, past the starting position, while moving the hood toward the hand grip. As the user completes the follow through of the swing, the user's hands are close together, similar to the resting position. Repetitious use of this club teaches a golfer proper swing technique. Because a golf club swing is different from a baseball bat swing, the Kallassy Swing Magic™ device does not offer any benefit when teaching a person proper baseball bat swinging technique.
The majority of the swing trainers described only help the batter to determine optimal bat acceleration or simply increase bat resistance by increasing the weight of the bat. A batter can increase muscle mass by increasing the weight of the bat he or she must swing, but still have poor swing technique. Further, obtaining optimal bat acceleration can be achieved even if the batter's swing technique is poor. Therefore, none of the training bats described above is capable of teaching a batter proper swing technique.
Thus, an object of this invention is to provide a swing training tool, which teaches the batter proper swing technique and form. The trainer is adaptable to individual batters and allows for differences in body frame, height and strength. Proper swing technique is taught regardless of the unique characteristics and experience of each batter.
Another object of this invention is to teach a batter the location of his or her body in relation to the bat during a swing. The prior art does not teach a batter the proper way to swing the bat head outwardly, away from the body leading with the butt of the bat. Trainers that simply help a batter to break or bend his or her wrists ignore other parts of the body involved in the proper swing technique of a bat. Further, simply swinging weighted bats does not teach the batter the proper placement of the arms, hands, shoulders and torso throughout a swing of the bat. Outward swinging, while keeping the hands and forearms close to the body, causes the batter to use more of his or her body when executing the swing, thereby achieving more bat speed and power. None of the available swing trainers enable the batter to practice and develop this skill.
One object of this invention is to demonstrate intuitively to the batter the proper form and position of the body while swinging a bat. When the batter swings the trainer, he or she can readily feel where the optimal placement of the hands, arms and body should be during and after the swing. Repetitious use of the swing trainer promotes muscle memory for proper swing technique, thus allowing the batter to draw on those memories to utilize proper technique when swinging an actual, non-training bat.
The invention also permits the user to check the results of the trainer. After conducting a series of practice swings using the slide training features of the invention, the user may grip the trainer in a manner similar to a conventional bat and use the trainer to check whether the user has achieved an increase in bat speed and power.
A further object of this invention is to provide a self-teaching training tool that a batter can use alone without the need for an experienced training coach. An inexperienced batter can learn how to swing a bat properly and with the correct technique. Similarly, an experienced batter can use the trainer to improve his or her current swing technique or to increase the power behind an already perfected swing. Further, the trainer can be used in many sports requiring the use of a bat or the like, including but not limited to baseball, softball, cricket and the like.